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At the heart of every restaurant’s potential for profit and success is the quality and consistency of their guest experience. A consistent, quality guest experience translates into loyal, returning customers and the best advertising of all, positive WOM. Have you ever thought about what’s the MOST important part of your restaurant’s guest experience? In other words, if you could be over-the-top best in one area, what would it be? Food?…

Here is a phenomenal article from our favorite online consulting group Restaurant Owner Have you ever noticed how the busiest, most successful restaurants almost always seem to have a great staff? Everything seems to run smoothly, the food is consistent and the customers appear content – it’s easy to see why the restaurant stays busy. On the other hand, you’ve also seen restaurants that have below-average staff, with workers scurrying…

One of our surveys revealed that cost control, food cost in particular, is a top priority of many independent operators today. Most operators indicated that they track their food cost each week, or at minimum, every month. They know that keeping close tabs on their food cost can alert them to potential problems when the cost is higher than expected. Spikes in cost percentages set in motion the usual investigation…

How Does Your Restaurant Measure Up? One of the more frequent inquiries we see on our discussion forum is from restaurant owners wanting to know how their restaurant’s financial performance compares to similar type restaurants. Industry comparisons can help restaurant operator evaluate how well they stack up against industry averages. More importantly, comparisons can help restaurant owners discover red flags when specific expenses exceed industry norms. The financial performance structure…

Someone on your staff is stealing. It happens. What now? “Most operators have a general idea about how the thefts are happening, but even if they run a really good restaurant, they don’t know what to do about it,” says security expert Craig Whitfield, author of Guess Who’s Eating Your Profits… (AuthorHouse, 2013). His book provides restaurant and bar managers advice on loss prevention and investigations. Whitfield advocates a measured…